Banana Bread Old Fashioned

Before you start

Banana and bourbon share vanilla and caramel notes, so a bourbon infused with toasted banana tastes uncannily like a slice of banana bread with a whiskey finish. Roasting the banana first matters: it caramelizes the sugars and drives off the raw, green flavor, so the infusion picks up browned, baked notes rather than fresh fruit. This original Old Fashioned then adds a little demerara, aromatic bitters and fresh nutmeg.

Plan for a day. The infusion needs about 24 hours in the refrigerator and a slow strain through a coffee filter to remove the fine banana solids that otherwise cloud the drink. Use bananas with plenty of brown spots, and keep the sweetener low, because the infused bourbon is already rounder and sweeter than plain.

Ingredients

• Banana bourbon (makes about 330 ml)1 large very ripe banana — heavily spotted, about 120 g peeled
• 375 ml (12½ oz) bourbon
• Cocktail60 ml (2 oz) banana-infused bourbon
• 5 ml (1 tsp) rich demerara syrup (2:1)
• 2 dashes aromatic bitters
• 1 dash black walnut or chocolate bitters — optional
• 1 cup (about 150 g) ice cubes — for stirring
• 1 large ice cube — for serving
• 1 strip orange peel
• 1 grating whole nutmeg

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Slice the banana into 1 cm rounds and lay them on the parchment-lined sheet.
2. Roast for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are deep golden and sticky and the kitchen smells like banana bread. Let the slices cool for 5 minutes.
3. Scrape the banana and any caramelized juices into a clean jar, pour in the bourbon, seal and shake. Refrigerate for 24 hours, shaking once or twice.
4. Strain through a fine strainer without pressing, then let the bourbon drip through a coffee filter, changing the filter if it clogs. Expect up to an hour and about 330 ml of infused bourbon.
5. For each drink, stir 60 ml banana bourbon, the demerara syrup and bitters with ice in a mixing glass for 25 to 30 seconds.
6. Strain over a large cube in a rocks glass. Express the orange peel over the drink and grate a little fresh nutmeg on top.

Tips for success

• The browner the banana, the better. Fully yellow bananas give a fresh, slightly green flavor rather than a baked one.
• Do not squeeze the banana in the strainer. Pressing pushes starch through, and the bourbon stays permanently hazy.
• The bourbon loses a little volume to the fruit. Make a full 375 ml bottle's worth for about five drinks.

Substitutions

Bourbon

Aged rum gives a tropical, banana-foster style drink. Rye makes a spicier, less dessert-like version.

Demerara syrup

Maple syrup suits the baked flavor; use 5 ml. Skip sweetener entirely if your infused bourbon tastes sweet enough.

Roasted banana

Dried banana chips (about 40 g) infuse faster, in 6 to 12 hours, but taste more of fried banana and less of baked bread.

Variations

Banana bread hot toddy

Combine 45 ml banana bourbon, 10 ml honey and 15 ml lemon in a mug and top with 120 ml hot water.

Troubleshooting

The infused bourbon is cloudy

Banana starch passed through. Re-strain through a fresh coffee filter, and do not press the fruit next time.

It tastes like raw banana

The banana was underripe or not roasted enough. Roast until the edges are well browned.

It is too sweet

The infusion added sweetness. Cut the syrup to 2.5 ml or leave it out, and add an extra dash of bitters.

Storage

Serve the cocktail immediately. Keep the strained banana bourbon in a sealed bottle in the refrigerator and use it within about 1 month; discard it if it smells fermented or off. Never leave fruit soaking in the bourbon longer than the infusion time.

Safety notes

Contains 60 ml of roughly 45% ABV bourbon, about 1.5 U.S. standard drinks (a standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol). For adults of legal drinking age only. Never drink and drive.